KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The UMKC men’s basketball team will host UT Rio Grande Valley on Saturday at Municipal Auditorium to open Western Athletic Conference play. Tip-off between the Roos and the Vaqueros is set for 7 p.m. CT.

UMKC overcame a 16-point deficit for a 79-77 victory at USC Upstate on Tuesday, led by a 21-point game from Isaiah Ross (Davenport, Iowa) and 20-point performance from Broderick Robinson (Grand Junction, Colo.). It marked the third time in four outings that Ross tabulated at least 20 points, while it was Robinson’s third 20-point game of the season.

In the Roos game at Incarnate Word on Dec. 16, UMKC blocked 10 shots as a team - just one shy of the program record of 11 that was set against Nicholls State in 1991.

UMKC is led on the court this season by Xavier Bishop (Springfield, Ill.), who is currently averaging 12.4 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. The sophomore has hit double-figure scoring in eight of UMKC’s last 10 games. He has also contributed a team-high 55 assists.

Robinson is averaging 12.1 points and a team-high 4.9 rebounds per game. He was named to the Gulf Coast Showcase All-Tournament Team after averaging 19.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists, while going 15-for-16 at the free throw line, in three games at the tournament.

In UMKC’s 65-55 win at UT Martin on Nov. 26, Ross became the first Roo since standout LaVell Boyd against South Dakota in 2015 to connect on 10-plus field goals in a single game.

As a team, the Roos are shooting 70.7 percent from the free throw line, with Robinson, Ross and Jordan Giles (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) all shooting better than 75 percent at the charity stripe. In UMKC’s victory at USC Upstate on Jan. 2, 11 of Giles’ 15 points came at the free throw line.

The Roos are averaging 7.1 steals per game, compared to their opponents at 5.4 per contest. Robinson leads the team with 23 on the year, while Marco Smith (Kansas City, Kan.) has 17 and Bishop has 16.

In the WAC, Bishop is currently 10th in scoring, while Giles is 10th in free throw percentage and Robinson is the leader in steals. Ross has the second-most 3-pointers in the WAC with 42.

Aleer Leek (Juba, South Sudan) has the sixth-most blocked shots in the WAC, averaging 1.1 a game with a team-high 17 on the season.

Kareem Richardson’s troop features six returning letterwinners and welcomes nine newcomers this season. The Roos will look to the senior leadership of Robinson, as UMKC lost all five of its starters from 2016-17. Robinson, along with Bishop played in all 35 games for the Roos last season, while Ross made an appearance in 34 contests. Richardson enters his fifth year at the helm of the Roos program.